Evergreen Solar files for Chapter 11

By Chris Reidy , Globe Staff

Evergreen Solar Inc., the once promising alternative energy company that received millions in state subsidies, revealed today that that it has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Headquartered in Marlborough, Evergreen makes solar cells. Struggling with low-price competition from Chinese rivals, it shut its manufacturing plant in Devens in March and cut hundreds of jobs at the facility.

As part of its reorganization activities, Evergreen Solar said it will reduce its US and European workforce by about 65 people, including suspension of operations at its facility in Midland, Mich.

In a statement, Evergreen president and chief executive Michael El-Hillow, said: “Since January, Evergreen Solar has been aggressively repositioning itself to fully leverage the potential our String Ribbon wafers can bring to high volume solar cell and module manufacturers as these customers are facing severe pressure to further reduce their total cost of manufacturing and particularly their wafer supply costs. The actions we are taking today enable the continued development of an industry standard wafer using Evergreen’s differentiated technology and thereby provide the lowest cost wafer to the growing solar industry.”

To read the company’s press release, please click here.